Pollitt was born July 6, 1921, in Washington, D.C. to Mima Riddiford and Basil Hubbard Pollitt. He graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut early to join the Marines. He fought in the Pacific, as a Second Lieutenant in World War II, receiving several purple hearts. After the war, he attended Cornell Law School, where he served on the Law Review. He clerked for Judge Henry Edgerton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Later, he joined the Law Firm of Joseph Rauh, Jr., beginning a lifetime of defending civil rights, civil liberties, and fighting injustices in local, state and national arenas.
In 1951, he married Jean Ann Rutledge (1925 – 2006), daughter of Supreme Court Justice Wiley B. Rutledge and Annabel Person Rutledge. He and his wife of 55 years had three children, Daniel, Phoebe and Susan.
In 1957, he moved to Chapel Hill where he joined the faculty at the law school. A constitutional and labor law professor, he was active in numerous organizations including the NAACP, ACLU, AAUP, Southerners for Economic Justice, and RAFI. He was president of the faculty for four years.
Some of the honors and awards he received include the Order of the Long-Leaf Pine, the Jefferson Award, The Order of the Golden Fleece, the NC ACLU Frank Porter Graham and Finlator Awards, and the Robert Seymour Award from People of Faith Against the Death Penalty.
He loved teaching, and taught at Georgetown, Wake Forest, Duke, American University, the University of Oregon and the University of Arkansas law schools. Until January 2010, he taught a constitutional law course for Duke’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.
He is survived by his loving and devoted wife Eleanor Kinnaird; his three children who cherish his memory: Daniel R. Pollitt, wife Linda Weisel and son Daniel L. Pollitt; Phoebe Ann Pollitt, husband Bruce Ball, and sons Douglas Paletta and Andrew Paletta; and Susan H. Pollitt, husband Bill Rowe and sons William Pollitt Rowe and Henry Rowe Pollitt; his sister Betty Kenney; his brother-in-law Neal Rutledge and wife Caroline; his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Mary Lou and Ted Needels; his three step children: Robin Kinnaird, Michael Kinnaird, Paul Kinnaird; and 13 nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at the Community Church of Chapel Hill this spring. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Dan Pollitt Fellowship at the UNC Law School, which supports summer clerkships for law students to work in the area of social justice. Donations may be sent to the School of Law Annex, 101 E. Weaver St, Ste 245 Carrboro, NC 27510 ATTN: Brandon Wright (919) 962-6718.
Uncle Dan was the most generous and kind person I have ever met. He showed unwavering support of me, when I needed it, and unconditional love. He is my hero and role model. I fight for teachers’ rights and enforcement of union contracts. Uncle Dan helped my friends, whom he did nor know, when they called him. My sense of social justice came from my Uncle Dan and his brother, Basil Pollitt. I will forever miss Uncle Dan. Salinas, CA
I was research assistant to Professor Pollitt for two years before graduating from UNC Law in 1985. He was a wonderful man to work with and for. He had his special loves for family, social justice and Constitutional law, but more than that, he loved people. He simply loved people, and he was kind and generous every day.
I wish I’d known him as I did his brother, Basil; and his mother, Mima.
He did send (to me) a paper he wrote, along with a note. He came from a beautiful family, one of character as well as quite a history. While I know little of his father’s side, I do know of his mother’s as well as the early days in England long before he was born. They were a hard-working, loving family.
I wish I’d known him as I did his brother, Basil; and his mother, Mima.
He did send (to me) a paper he wrote, along with a note. He came from a beautiful family, one of character as well as quite a history. While I know little of his father’s side, I do know of his mother’s as well as the early days in England long before he was born. His was a hard-working, loving family that gained much respect from those who knew his mother in Cincinnati.
I’ll cherish his memory. and that of his brother, Sir Basil.
A cousin, SDH
My teacher in the 70s and then a distant friend. I was in awe of him. One of the kindest people I have known
Dan Pollitt was the most unforgettable person I ever met. He was my professor for Federal Courts and a seminar on the Supreme Court. He took the seminar group on a trip to Washington DC in 1961, and I was among the students who went. We went to the Supreme Court where we witnessed the proceedings there from the opening to the closing shortly after the noon hour. We also visited the offices of Joseph Rauh and John Silard. Silard expalined to us just how the UAW’s legal team got the upper hand in the famed Kohler case initially decided by the National Labor Relations Board. It was exciting, to say the least. More importantly, Dan set up an appointment with Saul Jaffe, then the Solicitor for the NLRB, for a personal interview since I had already received a form letter from that Agency telling me “thanks but no thanks.” (I was not the brightest lad in law school, I am afraid.) Jaffe had me interview two chief legal counsels for the NLRB’s five members Board. One of them took a shining to me and arranged for the NLRB’s General Counsel’s office to interview me. I got the job: the newly established regional office of the NLRB in Albuquerque, NM. I served the NLRB for 37 years, retiring as the Regional Attorney (or chief law officer) for 17 of those years. However, while I was in the hustings trying cases, both Dan and Jean would send me short messages congratuling me on this or that win (most prominantly the Farah Mfg. cases. We corresponded down through Jean’s passing and an occasional card thereafter. So one could say with little room to quibble that Dan Pollitt was the most influential person of my professional life as an attorney. Since I am still in the labor-management field today, as a labor arbitrator, I look to Dan Pollitt for guidance: What would Dan do with this case?
We will all miss him, but he is with me every time I hear and decide a labor arbitration case. RSP Dan.